The easiest vegan banana bread! Made with just one bowl, this wholesome walnut and chocolate banana bread will surely become a family favourite.
This post was originally shared in February 2018. It’s been updated with improvements to the recipe and text as of April 2020.
One Bowl Vegan Banana Bread
That’s what makes it the easiest! Just mix and bake, no extra dishes or electronics needed. Banana bread is a great recipe to try vegan even if you’re a novice baker, because bananas add great hold and act as an egg replacer – no chia or flax egg needed.
This tastes pretty much spot on to any not vegan banana bread, with a bit of a healthier twist thanks to olive oil and walnuts. Sometimes we love a loaf of sourdough banana bread and sometimes this super easy loaf, depending what’s on hand.
So make a loaf and have it for breakfast all week (if it lasts that long!) or keep it around for snacks. This one is great for adults and kids alike. Try lightly toasting a slice, it’s the best with some (vegan) butter or nut butter.
What’s in this bread?
Just 14 common ingredients including salt, spices, and leaveners. Easy, peasy. Here’s what you need:
- Olive oil
- Cane sugar and brown sugar
- Non-dairy milk
- Bananas (three of them – ripe!)
- Vanilla
- Lemon juice
- Light spelt flour (or all purpose)
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Walnuts
- Chocolate!
Substitutions and Tips
We haven’t tested this out, but we think that you might be able to make this loaf gluten-free by using a good GF flour blend like the Bob’s Red Mill one. The bananas should hold everything together enough. As noted in the recipe card, you can use all-purpose flour for the spelt.
If you don’t have walnuts, and other nuts or seeds are good – our top picks are hazelnuts and pecans. Any type of chocolate can be subbed for dark, so use what you have one hand (but note that it might not be vegan, so take a look at the ingredients if you’re making the bread as a gift).
Other types of sugar can be used in place of cane sugar, like more brown or even coconut sugar. They will change the flavour a bit. It can go the other way, too, if you only have cane sugar, but we love the caramel flavour brown sugar adds.
If you hate chunks of banana in your banana bread, you can mix the oil, sugars, milk, banana, vanilla, and lemon juice in a blender before adding to the bowl. That’s how the recipe was originally set up but we decided to do everything in a single bowl to streamline a bit more.
More Great Banana Recipes:
Multigrain Banana Waffles – with espresso maple syrup
Gluten Free Dutch Baby – with roasted bananas and strawberries
Banana Bread Chocolate Cookies (vegan)
Chocolate Banana Babka (vegan)
Double Chocolate Banana Bread (vegan)
If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.
Easiest Vegan Banana Bread
The easiest vegan banana bread! Made with just one bowl, this wholesome
walnut and chocolate banana bread will surely become a family favourite.
Ingredients
- 3 medium ripe bananas
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) olive oil
- ⅓ cup (80 g) natural cane sugar
- ⅓ cup (80 g) brown sugar, lightly packed
- ¼ cup (60 ml) non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups (300 g) light spelt flour (or all purpose flour)
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup (125 g) raw walnuts, roughly chopped
- 4 oz. (100 g) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until very smooth. Add the olive oil, cane sugar, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and lemon juice. Stir until well combined.
- Using a fine sieve, sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl. Stir until just combined.
- Gently fold the walnuts and chocolate into the bowl, mixing until evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched.
- Cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing and cooling fully on a rack. This loaf keeps well in a sealed container for up to 3-4 days at room temperature, or up to a month in the freezer.
Notes
For step one, you can use a blender to puree if you prefer, before adding to the bowl and continuing with the other steps.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 324Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 204mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 5gSugar: 21gProtein: 6g
This is an approximation of the nutrition offered in this recipe, and is created using a nutrition calculator.
Payton says
This looks amazing! Any chance I could make it gluten-free by using all purpose GF flour?
Sophie Mackenzie says
Hey Payton, I have’t tried it as a gluten free loaf, but I feel it should work with a good gluten free blend like maybe the Bobs red mill type. <3
Justine Nigro says
I have made this once and LOVE IT! For my second round I am wanting to use maple syrup instead of sugar. If so,, would I have to alter my other liquids to suit?
Sophie Mackenzie says
Hi Justine, so happy you like the loaf! Yes, so can totally try maple syrup. I usually add 3/4 of a cup maple syrup per 1 cup sugar and reduce the liquid in the recipe by three tbsp. This recipe has 2/3 sugar so I’d maybe add 1/3 plus 2 tbsp maple syrup and reduce the milk to 2-3 tbsp. If this is all too complicated, I have this recipe which is maple syrup based.http://www.wholeheartedeats.com/2014/01/when-life-gives-you-banana-bread-html/ <3
Dreeks says
In the oven at this very moment Saturday January 16, 2021. Looks great, can’t wait to taste it.😋 Will let you know the end result.